What Are You Watching?

[gunswordfist]

Just finished episode 62...so the OVAs finish Yorknew right? I assumed that "the regular episodes" ended with Yorknew and then the OVAs were Greed Island.

Anyway, I don't remember Silva using his hair to heal a knife wound from Chrollo or Chrollo using Owl's power and them showing a picture of Owl in the book in 2011 like they did in 1999. I can't wait to watch the side by side comparison of the two versions of the fight on youtube. And I remember Zeno saying that he was sure Chrollo would kill him if he actually was serious in 2011 while in 1999 he just said he'd have a chance at doing it. Also, Zeno Nen Dragon looks much better in 2011. In fact, that's one fight I liked better in 2011. I also like that they showed Illumi's infiltration and assassination of the Ten Dons and a flashback with Chrollo and Silva in 2011. But then again not having that Illumi part gave the little twist an added element of surprise.

Some random stuff: I thought that Tiger Claw whatshisname game from Heaven's Arena was the one who was supposed to have Rando-like powers for some reasons (because him failing to master his abilities was what ultimately made him lose) but it's been painfully obviously that its actually Chrollo that does. I think I finally figured it out after episode 61. IDK.

I've been meaning to say this for awhile: In 2011, I like how in the Chimera Ant arc, there's 3 generations of a group of 2 featuring a simple and earnest guy (except Knov or Morel. I keep on forgetting who is who since there names are barely said. I'm guessing his years of experience made him into an intelligent Nen User) and a colder but fearful Nen user (Shoot doesn't seem as cold as gambling dude or especially Killua though.) I find that to be pretty interesting.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Zeno's Nen Dragon, and that whole fight in general, animates much better in the 1999 version. Also it doesn't look any better in 2011 aside from just having a different color.

[gunswordfist]

So I'm guessing you thought I was asking a rhetorical question and I'm guessing your non-answer means I answered my own question.  I'll go through all the OVAs today. Maybe I'll eat more chocolate pie and homemade pizza while I do so.

[gunswordfist]

I completed OVA #1. I love the part when Hisoka changes the contents of his poem. I'm not exactly sure why he made himself look like a traitor in his rewrite. Maybe he couldn't come up with something else that both had similar lines to the others and let him stay at the hideout.

[gunswordfist]

Just finished OVA episode 2. All that Sword of Oath stuff is confusing. Did Phinks really call Ubo..I mean Uvo an idiot? The translations for these episodes aren't as good is the first 62.

[gunswordfist]

And now I'm done with OVA 3. They chased the Spiders and were spotted.

[gunswordfist]

OVA 4. Squalla has been killed and Gon and Killua have been captured. That was kind of intense.

[gunswordfist]

OVA 5. It was heart pounding waiting for the moment when the hotel when dark. I don't remember their little fight in the dark being this cool in 2011. lol @ Uvo having an afro back in the day. I'm confused at whether or not Paku actually found out about Kurapika's abilities when she touched them since she said she didn't because she thought he kept them as a secret from them but then they showed her thinking about the flashback when he did reveal them. I also forgot/didn't know she could extract memories from notes.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Speaking of HXH, I just have to say this:

Paku's death scene in the OVA >>>>>>>>>>> Paku's deat scene in the 2011 anime

[gunswordfist]

I can't wait to see it then.

[gunswordfist]

Watched OVA 6 and 7 while drinking hot cocoa.

OVA 6. Whoa, Kurapika really beat the shit out of Chrollo. Lmao @ Phinks being an awful hostage negotiator. I don't remember him getting punched by Paku in 2011 or kicked in the back by Machi, just punched by Machi and Nobunaga. I also don't remember if he almost got into a fight with Nobunaga and Nobunaga being knocked out. I love how Paku is so willing to betray the Spiders in order to save Chrollo and that sad little scene of Squalla's dogs watching his body being carried into an ambulance.

OVA 7. Kurapika calms down yet again and using his head instead of completely going off the edge. I loved that intense moment when he's cycling through his thoughts and emotions trying to decide whether his plan is good or not and then he decides that it is. I also loved how he asked Paku questions and how Melody and Chrollo had thoughts on what their respective friends are doing. So sister Zoldyck distracts the Phantom Troupe and then Hisoka gets replaced by a robot? That haven't revealed that in this episode but it's pretty obvious (lol @ the robot dropping a card. Nice foreshadowing). I also loved the view of Paku walking the kids to the airport was mostly in first person. I'm guessing that memory will be important later.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I finished Ashita no Joe 2 friday night. I'll post my thoughts in the AnJ thread, but  needless to say it was everything I expected and hoped for.

I also just ran through the entirety of Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket today. I haven't really watched many Gundam series before (I did watch all of 00 back in '08 on Sci-fi...damned if I remember any of it, though), but I knew that people on this board consider 0080 to be the best, and since it was nicely short, I figured I should finally watch it. I'm glad the series was so accessible for Gundam newbies, and at it's core, it's really just a well-written war story. Children have this naive view of people, death, and war, and the series explores how misguided that naivety is through Al. He and the other kids think of war as something cool, and talk about people dying and killing people like it is inconsequential. It's cause it's impersonal to them. The war is something far away from the Riah colony, so they can't really grasp it's ramifications. Even when the war spills into the colony, because nothing from it personally affected them, they are still able to see it as something cool. Except Al. He learned the hard way, after getting to know people on both sides of the conflict, that war is not something to take lightly. It is deadly, and it has costs, and people suffer and die. It took the danger of loosing those who were closest to him, and loosing someone who was very dear to him, and seeing another person he loved get hurt, to fully understand that war was not something to take lightly, nor is human life.

It was a very well-told story, and I found Al and Bernie to be strong leads. I appreciated how all the characters were rounded in characterization so that there are no heroes or villains in the story, but people trying to do what they think is right (well, except Colonel Killing. He's pretty stereotypically villainous. But he didn't do much anyway, so I don't care.). That outlook on war is the kind I prefer. We see and hear people talk about doing cruel things, like Garcia wanting to kill Al so he wouldn't tattle, but this is never portrayed as villainous acts, but the fact of warfare. It's what has to be done in order to win, and protect what you must.

Personally, I love how the last scene is the children are talking about how they can't wait for another war, and what they'll collect from the battles, and all the while Al is just crying. Unlike Al, the other children don't understand the pain and consequences that comes from military conflict, and that ignorance is going to pave the way for future death and destruction down the road. Overall, I think the series executes and develops really strong themes and messages about war, and handles them maturely and in a way that complements a character-driven story perfectly. I can see why people here regard this as the best Gundam, and even Giant Robot, series. It's easily the most well-written analysis of the consequences of war and are self-destructive and provincial naivety that I've seen in animation, so far.

Overall I'm just happy to check off another show from the backlog. With Joe 2 done, I'm diving right into Princess Jellyfish, and will likely hit up Mushi-shi (finally) afterwards. I can also finally catch up on all the currently running series I put on hold. I've missed Silver Spoon...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm glad to see you liked the AnJ2 ending as much as I did (and I posted about that on the AnJ thread), and am just as glad to see you liked Gundam 0080 (both of these are in my top 5 favorite anime series ever).

As for Gundam 0080, I highly recommend checking out SF Debris's analytical reviews of each episode. As a complete Gundam newbie himself, he still brings a lot of good insight not the characters and themes of the series. I've tried to get into other Gundam series, like the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Wing, and the Unicorn OVAs, but this is the only one that really grabbed me and drew me in, and think a lot of that, as you said, has to do with it just being a well-written war story more than a Gundam story.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I've heard good things about SF Debris' reviews. I'll make sure to check out his 0080 reviews sometime. 

As for other Gundam series, I do remember liking 00 and what I've seen of the original, but I can say I found 0080 on another level story-wise. That said, I haven't seen many Gundam series, so I'll try and see if I can check out some of the more well-regarded ones in the franchise sometime in the future.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I just noticed that the entirety of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, dubbed, has been uploaded onto Netflix. Interesting. I might give it a re-watch sometime.

If Aniplex is starting to add more of their shows to Netflix, I hope to see Durarara! and Gurren Lagann on there soon.